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Milk teeth

These useful tips on care of milk teeth have been provided by Blooming Marvellous. Please send in your experience on the subject using the form below.

protecting your baby's milk teeth

Baby's milk teeth might not last long, but mums should not be cavalier about looking after them! Decay and early loss can damage permanent teeth even before they emerge. Because baby teeth play an important role in the alignment and spacing of permanent teeth, if they are lost too early on due to unnecessary decay, the position of the adult teeth may be affected - and this can lead to a bad bite or jaw pain in later life. This is why good dental care must start in infancy. Even before your baby's first tooth comes in, you should begin cleaning his or her mouth. Gently rubbing a damp, clean washcloth over the gums after feedings will help remove food debris and accustom your child to the cleaning process. As soon as teeth emerge, they should also be wiped clean after feedings.

Bear in mind that your baby's teeth are susceptible to decay or cavities as soon as they appear - that's why early and proper dental care is so very important. Babies should never be put to bed with a bottle containing milk, breast milk, formula, juice, or any other drink that contains sugar. If this occurs on a regular basis, your baby could be at risk of developing a serious dental condition called baby-bottle tooth decay (or "nursing-bottle syndrome"). The sugar in these liquids along with the bacteria that is naturally present in your baby's mouth join together to form an acid that starts attacking and decaying the baby teeth, causing them to rot and erode. If you give your baby a bottle before a nap or at bedtime, it should contain water only.

Please also visit these relevant pages:

• Baby teething explained
• Signs of teething
• Relief during teething
• Milk teeth
• Brushing baby teeth

About the author:- This article is written and published by Blooming Marvellous. Please feel free to syndicate the content, but if you do this footer note must be included (unchanged) with all the links present and active. Blooming Marvellous publish articles like this on a monthly basis in our email newsletter called Baby Matters which you can sign up for here.

Blooming Marvellous provide maternity wear, baby clothes and nursery equipment.

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